The Springs Fire nearly tripled Friday to 28,000 acres as it burned through pristine Ventura County wilderness to the beach, then stormed back through canyons toward luxury neighborhoods when erratic Santa Ana winds reversed course.

While the Camarillo blaze was the biggest of the day, it came as firefighters throughout Southern California found themselves battling a fierce series of flare-ups amid dry, gusty wind conditions from Pasadena to the Inland Empire.

With the Springs blaze out of control on several fronts, commanders deployed resources to rugged hillsides, then redeployed them again as an afternoon shift in the wind sent waves of flames toward ranch homes in exclusive Hidden Valley. Residents were ordered to evacuate, but a parade of horse trailers crowded local roads as homeowners took care of their livestock first.

"When you live in this area you've gotta get used to fires," said Don Slaughter, a trainer with Equisports International, as he loaded up dozens of horses valued from $500,000 to $5 million each.

"The California area code should be 9-1-1."

Authorities said they plan to make a stand against the fire Saturday in Hidden Valley, bringing in firetrucks, bulldozers and firefighters.

"There is a big rock outcropping in that area, and we are going to try to drive the fire to that," said Ventura County fire spokesman Bill Thomas.

"When it hits that outcropping it will be snuffed out. It won't be able to jump."

As 1,000 firefighters battled the Ventura County blaze, crews scrambled to extinguish a series of smaller fires that broke out Friday around Southern California.

A fast-moving fire erupted near Glendale about 2:30 p.m., forcing the evacuation of upscale homes hugging the heavily wooded hillsides of Chevy Chase Canyon. Five water-dropping helicopters and more than three dozen firefighters contained the blaze to about 75 acres, and there were no reports of damage or injuries.

Firefighters in Pasadena quickly extinguished a small brusher on a vacant lot on the rim of the Arroyo Seco, while Los Angeles County sent about 200 firefighters and a water-dropping helicopter to battle a grass fire in Walnut. In Riverside County, a 4 1/2-square-mile fire that destroyed a home burned for a third day in mountains north of Banning.

"The brush fire season has started early and it has hit us very hard and fast for Southern California," said Eric Scott, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. "We can't encourage enough for people to have proper brush clearance to create the defensible space so firefighters can protect property and lives."

The Springs Fire broke out Thursday morning along the 101 Freeway near the Camarillo Springs mobile home park. Flames spread quickly, damaging 15 homes and five businesses and forcing the closure of Cal State Channel Islands.

On Friday, officials called in eight water-dropping helicopters and six fixed-wing aircraft to help douse the fire, which threatened 4,000 homes and 300 commercial properties. It jumped Pacific Coast Highway and crept onto the shooting range at the Point Mugu Naval Air Station, which later evacuated the San Miguel housing complex because of heavy smoke.

Firefighters also managed to save the Navy's $1 billion Laguna Peak communications complex, located on a hilltop overlooking the base.

"They're focusing on structural protection," said Lori Ross, a spokeswoman for the Ventura County Fire Department. "So far, we're doing a good job on that."

Officials estimated Friday morning that the fire had blackened 10,000 acres but that estimate had grown by the evening to 28,000 acres - with containment at 20 percent. Temperatures in the area remained high, with a record for the day of 96 degrees recorded on Friday. Officials estimate it will be at least Monday before firefighters gain the upper hand.

Among the businesses damaged was Laguna Farms, a 90-acre spread along Las Posas Road that is the only site in the world that grows raspberries year-round. News photographers and TV crews captured images of hoop-shaped shelters burning Thursday at a storage yard at the farm.

There had been fears on Thursday that chemicals stored on the site had ignited and created a health hazard, but a company official looking over the scene on Friday dispelled those concerns.

"There were no chemicals burned, despite what anybody said," said Don Bowden, vice president of Reiter Affiliated Cos., a partner in Laguna Farms. "There was some plastic glue, fertilizer and gypsum. To some degree, it seriously impacts our operations."

Bowden said the plastic-mesh shelters caught fire when strong winds dropped embers from the fire burning near Cal State Channel Islands.

"The smoke was so thick, I thought the university was gone," he said. "The winds were howling at 60 mph."

Some residents who had been evacuated Thursday were allowed to return home on Friday, many being met by the odor of smoke as they opened their front doors.

Ed Cruz has lived in the Dos Vientos neighborhood of Thousand Oaks for 24 years and recalled the Greenmeadow fire that swept through Ventura County in 1993, burning about 38,000 acres and destroying three dozen homes.

"The '93 fire was one dimensional - there was one dynamic," he said. "This fire was multi-directional - the dynamics changed all the time. That's why I respect these (firefighters) so much. They had a lot to deal with."